A new study shows that men and women who inhale a whiff of the hormone oxytocin
rate strangers as more attractive.
When oxytocin courses through our blood,
"we are more likely to see people we don't know in a more positive light,"
says Angeliki Theodoridou, a psychologist at the University of Bristol, UK, who led the new study.
This effect adds to the hormone's known role in human relationships.
One study found that oxytocin levels spike after new mothers look at or touch
their newborns and may help bonding.
Other work has hinted at the importance of oxytocin in social situations between adults too.
No matter their sex or mood, volunteers who received oxytocin rated male and female strangers
as both more attractive and trusting.
Unsurprisingly, entrepreneurs are already trying to make a buck off of oxytocin's social effects.
One company offers a spray that claims to engender trust in others,
though it offers little more than testimonials as evidence that it works.
(ABCnews)
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